February 16, 2026
Gut vs Brain: cage match
Neurons outside the brain
Are your gut and heart calling the shots? Internet splits: science vs chakras
TLDR: The article argues your body’s neurons—especially in the gut—mean thinking isn’t just in your head. Comments explode into science-vs-spirituality, with debates over “distributed” mind, computer analogies, meditation, and Hofstadter’s idea that parts of you live in others’ minds. It’s a rethink of what—and where—you are.
The internet just learned your belly might be smarter than your brain, and the comments went full soap opera. The article says neurons aren’t just in your head—your gut packs around 500 million (dog-brain levels!), your heart has its own mini network, and the spine “gates” pain. Cue chaos. yichab0d cheers the idea that human thinking is distributed, not centralized—aka, it’s not all about the skull brain. krackers immediately throws spiritual elbows: “Aren’t those the chakras?” And boom—science vs woo breaks out, with skeptics side-eyeing heart “memories” and fans of mind-body practices saying it’s common sense to listen to your gut.
Philosophy nerds pile in: xg15 compares it to a computer—what part is the computer anyway? Meanwhile siavosh drops a meditation grenade: keep asking “what is looking at it?” until your sense of “you” dissolves. Existential crisis achieved. And nlarion brings the deep cut: Douglas Hofstadter’s I Am a Strange Loop, arguing pieces of our “self” live in other people’s minds too.
Jokes fly fast: “My stomach wrote this comment,” “BRB updating heart firmware,” and “Dog brain in the belly explains my snack decisions.” Hot take central: some want to dethrone the brain; others want citations, not chakras. Everyone agrees on one thing—your body might be running way more of the show than you thought.
Key Points
- •The article argues human computation is distributed across the nervous system, not solely brain-centered.
- •The gut purportedly contains ~500 million neurons and ~30,000 fibers connecting to the brain, primarily afferent, enabling complex local control.
- •The heart is described as having its own intrinsic nervous system (per J.A. Armour, 1991) with sensory, motor, and interneurons for local processing.
- •The spinal cord (~15 million neurons) plays a major role in pain modulation, consistent with Melzack and Wall’s 1965 gate control theory.
- •Guided exercises encourage awareness of sensations in the head, chest, and abdomen to explore distributed bodily intelligence.